(NewsNation) — During the NewsNation special report “Born Lucky,” host of “On Balance” Leland Vittert explained there is a reckoning right now about parents and the role they play, especially fathers.
“Fathers are told and have been told for a long time they don’t really matter. The village is going to raise your kid. The village didn’t raise me. The village crushed me, and it was my dad who championed me.”
He says that is a different story than what’s being told in America today.
Dr. Drew Pinsky says a spectrum of parenting today doesn’t tolerate children being uncomfortable.
“You can’t say anything against my neurodiverse child, because they’re neurodiverse, therefore, a protected class. And then you don’t do anything for that kid, except sort of defend them, rather than help them manage and grow with this particular biology.”
Pinsky notes that the task of parenting is to develop a flexible emotional regulatory system, which requires exposure.
“How do we build bodies? Expose it to physical stress.”
Dr. Matthew Lerner notes that while there are pieces of Vittert’s experience that other people can draw from, it’s not a blueprint for how to raise a child with autism.
“Autistic people can have really significant challenges that impact their ability to communicate, or interact, or even be safe in their daily life. And those folks often require 24-7 care. Some even live in residential settings where they’re getting that care.”
Lerner says things have changed since Vittert’s childhood, when the view of autistic people was narrow and scary for parents.
“Now, thanks to many people who are known in the media — now including Leland in this book, right? —that sets the bar for what future people can see and can do with that label.”
“Born Lucky” is the story of a kid born with a serious, untreatable condition whose parents made a radical decision to give their son the support and tools to find his place in a tough world.
Written by Vittert, the new book discusses how growing up with autism affected his life — and his family’s.